Category: Integrity of Purpose

Folks like RJ Balaji must help the youth focus on doing greater good that can change India forever.

This post is in continuation of my post of yesterday on Life having a Higher Purpose. I have been watching the Jallikattu protests in Tamil Nadu with curiosity. While the peaceful manner in which the protests have been held so far is commendable, I feel a great opportunity needs to be urgently leveraged. This opportunity is really about creating a mass, democratic movement that has the potential to change the socio-political landscape of not just Tamil Nadu, but of the entire country. But for this to happen, this youth movement must rise above temptations of petty, regional, jingoism and embrace a Higher Purpose.

So far the protests across Tamil Nadu are known to have a focus only on the Jallikattu issue. I feel this is a very myopic way to look at preserving Tamizh culture and to channelize youth energy. It is very disturbing when you consider that many – artists, intellectuals, commonfolk – really don’t appear to be seeing the bigger picture. I have a simple question: don’t #Manushanda and #Indianda come far ahead of the parochial #Tamizhanda war-cry? I don’t want to emphasize on the unconfirmed references to purported secessionist clarion calls by a section of the protestors who played up the Eelam card or held up pictures of the late LTTE commando Prabhakaran. I also don’t want to lament the behavior – again unconfirmed –of a section of the protestors who purportedly used abusive language in reference to PM Modi and CM O Paneerselvam. Such discordant notes are bound to be struck when so much energy comes rising up – without proper channelization, without a bonding glue, without a Higher Purpose. The only voice that made sense, though it may be accused of being unnecessarily rabid, was that of RJ Balaji. I totally agree with Balaji that the time has come for ordinary citizens to join the democratic process – first, by going beyond just voting in every election. He champions for us to stand up, even if it means protesting every single time an issue arises – and in India, there is an issue born or created almost all the time, 24×7 – and raise questions. And what better way to get started on this journey than by allowing ourselves to be led by the youth of our land? Yes, I have a fundamental disagreement with Jallikattu being a cause for an uprising. But somewhere, somehow, a beginning had to be made. It has so happened that Jallikattu has now united a diverse set of people to a cause. So far, the political class has been getting away with sacrilege and the murder of democracy because there was no movement that had managed to reach as far as this youth effort in Tamil Nadu has gotten. This is why this opportunity, of making #Jallikattu a lasting metaphor, must be seized, urgently, immediately.

This is where a huge responsibility vests with people like RJ Balaji. There have been youthful voices like his in the recent past in India – but, at least to my mind, they have been laced with secessionist and communal flavors. Balaji, and a majority of the youth in the Tamil Nadu movement, have been, commendably, apolitical and non-communal. So, if anybody must be supported, it must be them.

We must all encourage and invite them to embrace a Higher Purpose. That Higher Purpose must simply be to cleanse Indian society of its corrupt, insensitive, ineffective political system. Here corruption does not refer to money bribes and illegitimate material accumulations alone, it also includes a corrupt thought process. When anything is taken up with Higher Purpose – which by character, by its very nature, goes beyond money, name, fame and power – it always succeeds. This is the only reason the Civil Disobedience Movement that Gandhi led succeeded – it got us our freedom! So, per me, embracing the Higher Purpose of cleansing our society means to create a nationwide movement that must aim to get elected only educated, honest, skilled representatives to both Houses of Parliament and to every State Assembly. That’s ensuring the selection and election of a few thousand people – from among 1.25 billion Indians. Extremely doable! I believe this is really what our youth want and are capable of achieving. I only hope they can define and internalize this Higher Purpose for themselves – for all of them, for all of us – and build a national movement. Only this will ensure that their energy is not frittered away and they remain united in the face of any pressure that the political class is bound to mount.

To be unfrustrated when you don’t get the results you want is a skill that you can teach yourself.

A gentleman asked me the other day: “It must be so frustrating AVIS to endure a bankruptcy for such a long time. Why do talented and ethical people like you have to go through a tough Life?” I smiled back at him. My reply: “Talent and integrity don’t ensure a crisis-free Life. The nature of Life is such that it is one continuous adventure. You just have to deal with whatever comes your way.”

I feel people unnecessarily complicate Life by imagining that they should be free from problems, challenges or crises. To be sure, Life never promised anyone a hassle-free ride. In fact, Life makes no promises. We humans bring our expectations to the party and then we invite suffering into our Life when those expectations are not met. When Life makes no promises, and when you expect something out of Life, and that expectation is not fulfilled, and you suffer, who is to blame? Of course, you have only yourself to blame. So, simply, drop all expectations and Life will be a lot easier to deal with.

In “Gandhi The Man”, Eknath Easwaran (1910~1999), writes about how Mahatma Gandhi drew great inspiration from the Bhagavad Gita to keep the focus only on his efforts and to learn to be detached from the outcomes. The Gita says: ‘Do your allotted work, but renounce its fruit – be detached and work – have no desire for reward and work’. And Gandhi internalized this learning thus: “This is the unmistakable teaching of the Gita. He who gives up action falls. He who gives up only the reward rises. But renunciation of fruit in no way means indifference to the result. In regard to every action one must know the result that is expected to follow, the means thereto, and the capacity for it. He, who, being thus equipped, is without desire for the result, and is yet wholly engrossed in the due fulfillment of the task before him, is said to have renounced the fruits of his action.”

I meditated, during my daily mouna (silence periods) sessions, on this learning for weeks on end some years ago. And over time I cultivated the ability to stay detached from the outcomes of my efforts. Vaani helped me through this process. This is how both of us have been able to deal with our Life with great equanimity.

Internalizing this learning has helped us immensely to remain unfrustrated when we don’t get what we want despite our very sincere efforts and all our integrity. When you are unfrustrated then you see any challenge only as an opportunity to learn patience and to retry. Which is why, when people often ask me, when do I think we will get out of our bankruptcy, I always reply, “I know we will be out of this. I just can’t say when.”

To be unfrustrated is a skill that can be learnt with practice. It requires training your mind to engage with only the present moment, with only the efforts. Simply, when there is integrity of Purpose, when there is relentless, unsparing effort, when you trust the process of Life, then you can never be frustrated with the outcomes!

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The key to intelligent living is to go with the flow of Life – savoring your successes and learning from what you fail at!

On a recent episode of the popular TV show, “Koffee with Karan”, celebrity Bollywood director Karan Johar had the two sensational young stars Parineeti Chopra and Alia Bhatt as his guests. The show’s format includes other stars giving Karan’s guests either feedback or compliments through video recordings. On this episode, Alia’s father, the famous Bollywood director, the venerable Mahesh Bhatt, had recorded a message for Alia. His advice for Alia, who’s just a couple of films old in the industry, was this: “…Remember that in this world we will be penalized when we fail and we will be applauded when we succeed. Take them both in your stride. Keep going…because in such journeys, there’s nothing like a full stop…!” Papa Bhatt was helping his daughter understand the vagaries of the movie business since she is new to it, she’s young and inexperienced. But all that he said is true for Life itself.

Most of the time, a lot of us struggle with Life because we fear failure. Even before we make efforts, we have developed an attachment to the results. We expect and want every effort of ours to succeed. While theoretically every effort, when made with dedication and precision, can be successful, in reality this is just not possible. Besides, success and failure are labels that society has created. At a deeply spiritual level, there’s only effort – there is no success or failure! This the essence of the message of the Bhagavad Gita – focus on ensuring that your motive is pure and the means are right, don’t worry about the results or the outcomes.

I took a long time to understand this truth about Life and struggled with accepting it initially. I could never comprehend why sincere effort, driven with sound integrity of purpose, should fail. For the first few years of our bankruptcy, I felt humiliated with the label of “failed entrepreneur” that society pinned on me. Every time I appeared in court, to face charges pressed by irate creditors, I would be addressed as the “accused” by the officials and the judge. It hurt very badly. I was devastated when my family called me a “cheat”. My grief was unbearable. It was my effort to get rid of my grief that led me to realize that I was allowing these social definitions (of me) to affect me. Yes, I had made mistakes in our business which had caused our challenging situation. But this was not the end-of-the-road for me, I reasoned to myself. I redefined my Life’s context – I told myself that we had to hang in there, face Life, work harder than ever before, and climb out of the situation that my family and I were in. To be able to do this diligently is what success now meant to me. Indeed, we haven’t managed to even begin turning around our financial fortunes. But we have developed this ability to keep ploughing on. This has happened because my wife and I have been able to get over the fear of failure. I believe when you are not afraid of failing in Life, you will be successful in facing Life, even if material success – as defined by society – takes a long time to arrive!

In Life, you win some, you lose some. Neither is success permanent. Nor is failure. Really, there are no full stops in Life. You simply have to keep on going – no matter what!

Disclaimer

Disclaimer 1: The author, AVIS, does not claim that he is the be-all, know-all and end-all of all that he shares based on experiences and learnings. AVIS has nothing against or for any religion. If the reader has a learning to share, most welcome. If the reader has a bone to pick or presents a view, which may affect the sentiments of other followers/readers, then this Page’s administrators may have to regrettably delete such a comment and even block such a follower. Disclaimer 2: No Thought expressed here is original though the experience of the learning shared may be unique. AVIS has little interest in either infringing upon or claiming copyright of any referenced material published on this Page. The images/videos used on this Page/Post, that are not created by AVIS, are purely for illustrative purposes. They belong to their original owners/creators. The author does not intend profiting from them nor is there any covert claim to copyright any of them.